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WrestleMania 34
WrestleMania 34 was the thirty-fourth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event produced by WWE for their Raw and SmackDown brands. It took place on April 8, 2018, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The card comprised fourteen matches, including three on the pre-show. In the main event, Brock Lesnar retained the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns. In another main event match, AJ Styles retained the WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura. Other matches saw Ronda Rousey make her WWE debut and Daniel Bryan return to the ring after nearly three years of absence. Ronda Rousey teamed with Kurt Angle to defeat Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in a mixed tag team match, while Daniel Bryan teamed with Shane McMahon to defeat Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Also, The Undertaker defeated John Cena in an impromptu match. Charlotte Flair retained the SmackDown Women's Championship against Asuka, ending Asuka's undefeated streak. A 10-year-old (son of referee John Cone) became the youngest WWE champion in history when he teamed with Braun Strowman to defeat Cesaro and Sheamus for the Raw Tag Team Championship. It was also the first time that the SmackDown Tag Team Championship was defended at WrestleMania. Production Background WrestleMania is considered WWE's flagship event, having been described as the Super Bowl of sports entertainment. The event was the second WrestleMania to be held in the state of Louisiana and the second held at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, which previously hosted WrestleMania XXX in 2014. On October 30, 2017, traveling packages for the event were sold; tickets went on sale on November 17, 2017, with individual tickets costing from $35 to $2,000. The three official theme songs for the event were "Celebrate", "New Orleans" (both by Kid Rock), and "Let the Good Times Roll" (by Freddie King). On April 8, prior to the start of WrestleMania, WWE and Snickers held the WrestleMania Block Party at the Champions Square plaza. The tailgate event included appearances from WWE Hall of Famers Alundra Blayze and Ric Flair as well from active competitors Tamina and R-Truth. American duo Chloe x Halle performed "America the Beautiful" to kick off the main card of WrestleMania. Since 2014, WWE has attempted to establish Roman Reigns as their top babyface and the next "face of the company", but a significant portion of fans rejected Reigns in this role, taking issue with his perceived special treatment, real-life demeanor, wrestling moveset, speaking skills and character presentation. This resulted in Reigns being booed while he wrestled in the main events of WrestleMania 31, WrestleMania 32, WrestleMania 33; The perception that Reigns was the "company's chosen one" led to widespread expectations that Reigns would triumph in the main event of WrestleMania 34 to become WWE Universal Champion; and it was also anticipated that while doing so, he would be again received negatively by the WrestleMania crowd. Storylines The card comprised fourteen matches, including three on the pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches, with results predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brands. Storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw, SmackDown Live, and the cruiserweight-exclusive 205 Live. At the Royal Rumble, SmackDown's Shinsuke Nakamura won the men's Royal Rumble match, earning a world championship match of his choosing at WrestleMania. Nakamura chose WWE Champion AJ Styles. At Fastlane, Styles retained the WWE Championship in a six-pack challenge, confirming the Styles-Nakamura match at WrestleMania. On the post-Fastlane episode of SmackDown, Styles and Nakamura expressed respect for each other, but Nakamura promised to deliver a Kinshasa to Styles at WrestleMania and become WWE Champion, and teased a Kinshasa on Styles after saving him from an attack the following week. Styles warned Nakamura to not take him lightly and mentioned their previous encounter in New Japan. Styles then teased a Phenomenal Forearm on Nakamura after the two had won a tag team match on the April 3 episode. At WrestleMania 33, Brock Lesnar won the Universal Championship by defeating Goldberg, and retained it in various title defenses over the following year. Lesnar's WrestleMania 34 challenger was determined through the Elimination Chamber match, which was won by Roman Reigns; Lesnar's advocate Paul Heyman had previously teased this match since they were the only two to have defeated The Undertaker at WrestleMania. The two had also previously fought at WrestleMania 31 over Lesnar's WWE World Heavyweight Championship (now WWE Championship), but without a decisive winner as Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and pinned Reigns. Despite being advertised, Lesnar did not appear for various episodes of Raw. Reigns repeatedly criticized Lesnar's absence as disrespectful and also questioned WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, for which he was temporarily suspended. When Reigns nevertheless appeared on Raw to confront Lesnar, he was arrested by U.S. Marshals. The handcuffed Reigns assaulted the Marshals, but was then brutally attacked by Lesnar and taken out on a stretcher. The following week, Reigns suffered an F-5 from Lesnar on steel steps. On the final Raw before WrestleMania, Heyman said that if Lesnar were to lose, they would not re-sign with WWE. Reigns then came out and attacked Lesnar with five Superman Punches but Lesnar recovered and executed an F-5 on Reigns. After failing to win the Elimination Chamber match, Intercontinental Champion The Miz said he should main event WrestleMania as his title was more important than the Universal Championship. He demanded a challenger for WrestleMania, to which Seth Rollins came out and defeated him. After that, Finn Bálor also came out and defeated Miz. The following week, both Rollins and Bálor confronted Miz, leading to a 2-on-3 handicap match between Rollins and Bálor and The Miz and his Miztourage (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel), in which Rollins pinned Miz. Afterwards, Raw General Manager Kurt Angle scheduled The Miz to defend the Intercontinental Championship against Bálor and Rollins in a triple threat match at WrestleMania. On the March 12 episode, The Miz interviewed his WrestleMania opponents on Miz TV, which ended in Rollins and Bálor jointly taking out Miz and Rollins attacked Bálor, who later defeated Rollins. At the Royal Rumble, Raw's Asuka won the women's Royal Rumble match. As a result, Asuka earned the right to challenge for a women's championship of her choosing at WrestleMania. On the advice of Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon, Asuka postponed her decision until both women's champions had defended their titles at Elimination Chamber and Fastlane, respectively. Following Charlotte Flair's successful defense at Fastlane, Asuka appeared and challenged for the SmackDown Women's Championship. On the March 12 episode of Raw, Asuka explained that she had chosen Charlotte as she wanted to challenge the best women's champion in WWE. On SmackDown the next night, Charlotte confronted Asuka and vowed to end Asuka's undefeated streak. After Alexa Bliss won her second Raw Women's Championship in August 2017, she formed a friendship with Nia Jax, who also had championship aspirations. Nia failed to earn a title shot at the Royal Rumble and also lost to Asuka at Elimination Chamber in a match that would have added her to Asuka's championship match at WrestleMania. After Asuka defeated her in a rematch on Raw, Alexa consoled Nia and said she deserved a championship match. When Asuka explained her reasons for challenging Charlotte, Alexa and Mickie James confronted Asuka and called out Nia to wrestle Asuka; when Jax did not appear, Mickie stepped in and lost the match. Later, during Nia's match, Alexa and Mickie, who were unaware of the live microphone, could be heard disparaging Nia, who was upset by this. The following week, Alexa issued a fake apology and continued to insult Nia, who eventually chased the champion to the backstage area. When Alexa complained to Raw General Manager Kurt Angle, he scheduled her to defend the Raw Women's Championship against Nia at WrestleMania. After defeating The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson), Raw Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Sheamus said they had defeated every tag team on Raw and issued an open challenge to any tag team to face them for the titles at WrestleMania. On the March 12 episode, General Manager Kurt Angle scheduled a tag team battle royal with the winning team receiving a championship match at WrestleMania. Braun Strowman interjected himself into the match and won. The following week, Angle decided that Strowman would receive a Raw Tag Team Championship match at WrestleMania as long as he found a partner. Strowman said that he did not need a partner, but would have one. He defeated Cesaro, and, a week later, Sheamus in singles matches, but did not reveal his partner. At WrestleMania 31, then-UFC star Ronda Rousey appeared alongside The Rock and embarrassed The Authority (Triple H and his wife, Stephanie McMahon). She made some appearances over the next couple of years and was rumored to compete at 2018's Royal Rumble match; the now-former UFC star denied she would be at the event. However, she appeared at the end of the event, confirming that she had signed full-time with WWE. During the official contract signing at Elimination Chamber, her debut match was confirmed for WrestleMania 34. Raw General Manager Kurt Angle, whom Stephanie (now Raw Commissioner) previously had threatened to fire and whom Triple H had turned on at Survivor Series, then brought up the incident from WrestleMania 31 and warned Rousey that Triple H and Stephanie wanted revenge. Ronda threw Triple H through a table and was slapped by Stephanie before eventually signing her contract. The following night on Raw, Stephanie was forced to apologize. As she was leaving the ring, Triple H attacked Angle. The following week, Stephanie said Ronda could choose any Raw wrestler as her opponent at WrestleMania except the champion; she chose Stephanie. When Triple H objected, Angle pointed out that both Triple H and Stephanie had contracts as wrestlers and scheduled a mixed tag team match pitting Stephanie and Triple H against Ronda and himself. A Q&A session on the final Raw before WrestleMania ended with Stephanie putting Ronda through a table. Throughout the summer of 2017, Kevin Owens feuded with SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon; at Hell in a Cell, Kevin Owens defeated Shane in a Hell in a Cell match thanks to the help of his friend-turned-rival, Sami Zayn. Zayn explained that he acted out of disappointment about not getting the expected opportunities at SmackDown and realized that Owens was right all along in his questionable actions. Owens and Zayn continued their feud with Shane, including attacking him at Survivor Series and Shane threatened to fire them if they lost their match at Clash of Champions, while SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan seemingly favored the two by giving them WWE Championship opportunities: first at the Royal Rumble, when AJ Styles retained his title in a handicap match and again at Fastlane, when Owens and Zayn were among the five challengers. During the latter match, the feud escalated as Shane broke up pinfall attempts by Owens and Zayn. Shane then took an indefinite leave of absence, but, as one last decision, he scheduled Owens and Zayn to fight each other at WrestleMania 34. Owens and Zayn reacted by brutally attacking Shane. The following week, Daniel Bryan revealed that he was medically cleared to compete again; his last match was in April 2015. Later, he fired Owens and Zayn for their attack on Shane and received a beat down. In response, Bryan said he regretted favoring them and scheduled a tag team match pitting himself and Shane against Owens and Zayn, with the latter duo being rehired if they won. On the final SmackDown before WrestleMania, Shane was also cleared to compete. At Fastlane, Randy Orton won the United States Championship from Bobby Roode. Following the match, Jinder Mahal, who felt that he should have been in the match, attacked both men. On the following episode of SmackDown, Roode invoked his rematch clause for WrestleMania 34. The following week, Orton was scheduled to defend the United States Championship in a triple threat match against Roode and Mahal at WrestleMania. On the March 27 episode, after losing to Mahal and Rusev, Rusev demanded to be added to the title match since he pinned Orton. The match was subsequently made a fatal four-way. Throughout 2017, The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) and The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) fought at various events over the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. The original feud ended at Hell in a Cell with The Usos victorious. The New Day earned another shot at the titles at Fastlane, but both teams were attacked by The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan), injuring Jey Uso, Kingston, and Woods. On the following episode of SmackDown, Big E and Jimmy Uso teamed up to take revenge, but were defeated. On the March 27 episode, New Day lost to The Bludgeon Brothers by disqualification after The Usos attacked the latter. A triple threat tag team match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship was scheduled for WrestleMania 34. Determined to compete at WrestleMania 34, free agent John Cena entered himself into the Royal Rumble match to earn himself a world championship match at WrestleMania, but failed. He then qualified for the Elimination Chamber match, hoping to earn a shot at the Universal Championship at WrestleMania, and, using his free agent status, was among the five challengers in the WWE Championship match at SmackDown's Fastlane, but came up short in both attempts. Back on Raw, Cena pondered attending WrestleMania as a fan, but then decided to challenge The Undertaker, whom he had tried to challenge a few weeks prior; Cena stated that it was not WWE executives who were preventing the match, but Undertaker himself. Over the remaining weeks leading up to WrestleMania, Cena received no answer, despite repeatedly antagonizing Undertaker. On the final Raw before WrestleMania, Cena said he would not take a spot from any full-time wrestler in one of the other matches. He said he was not mad about not having a match, but was mad at Undertaker for not answering. On January 23, 2018, WWE Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore was released from WWE, vacating the title. A separate general manager was then appointed for 205 Live, which was previously controlled by the Raw General Manager, to address the situation. On the January 30 episode of 205 Live, new general manager Drake Maverick (formerly Rockstar Spud in Impact Wrestling) scheduled a 16-man single elimination tournament to crown a new WWE Cruiserweight Champion, culminating with the finals at WrestleMania 34. The tournament took place over the next several weeks, with Cedric Alexander and Mustafa Ali advancing to the finals at WrestleMania's pre show for the vacant Cruiserweight Championship. On the March 12 episode of Raw, a battle royal open to any female performer of any brand was scheduled for WrestleMania 34. The match, originally named in honor of WWE Hall of Famer The Fabulous Moolah, was introduced to serve as a female counterpart to the annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. However, a few days later, the match was renamed "WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal" due to the backlash from fans and critics regarding Moolah's past treatment of other women. Like the men's match, the reward was a trophy, and both the men's and women's battle royals were scheduled for the pre-show. The main storyline going into the women's match was the increasingly strained friendship between Bayley and Sasha Banks. At Elimination Chamber, Sasha turned on Bayley in the namesake match. Sasha then was the first to note her participation in the battle royal on the March 19 episode of Raw. A week later, Bayley confirmed her participation and was confronted by Sasha, resulting in a backstage brawl. On the final Raw before WrestleMania, Sasha saved Bayley from a post-match ambush by Absolution's Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose. Sasha expected Bayley to be grateful, but the two instead fought. Aftermath Results Cruiserweight Results Raw/SmackDown Results Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * WrestleMania Category:WrestleMania PPV Category:Pay-Per-Views